General Facts

Africa, second-largest of the Earth’s seven continents –

covering about 30,330,000 sq km (11,699,000 sq mi), which
makes up about 22 per cent of the world’s total land area.
Africa is the most multilingual continent in the world, and it is
not rare for individuals to fluently speak not only multiple
African languages, but one or more European ones as well.
Africa is the continent that has more countries than any other
continent of the world. with 54 full recognized sovereign states
(countries).
Africa is the hottest continent on earth; dry lands and deserts
comprise 60% of the entire land surface.
Geographical Facts
The geographic center of Africa is located within Lobeke
National Park in far southeastern Cameroon at 2° 37′ N 16° 06′
E. (see map)
Horizontal Width: 4,355 miles (7,009 km) from Dakar, Senegal,
east to Mogadishu, Somalia (see map)
Vertical Length: 4,504 miles (7,248 km) from Cape Town,
South Africa north to Tripoli, Libya: (see map)
The Sahara Desert (including its satellite deserts) is the world’s
largest hot desert, and temperature above 37.78 °C (100 °F)
are common. In fact, the record for the highest temperature
ever recorded was set in Libya in 1922; 58 °C – (136 °F).
Highest and Lowest Point
Mount Kilimanjaro – Uhuru Point – (5895m/19,340 ft) in Tanzania while
the lowest point is Lake ‘Asal (153 m/502 ft below sea level) in Djibouti.
Northernmost and Southernmost Point
Cape Blanc (Ra’s al Abyad;) in Tunisia is the Northernmost point while
Cape Agulhas in South Africa is the Southernmost point.

Population
Nigeria with 173.6 million people (2013 world bank statistic) has the
largest population in Africa, and is the most populous black nation in the
world.
The smallest African country by population is The Seychelles (an Island)
with a population of roughly 93,000
• African literature consists of a
body of work in different
languages and various genres,
ranging from oral literature to
literature written in colonial
languages (French,
Portuguese, and English).
 PERIOD OF COLONIZATION
• With the period of Colonization,
African oral traditions and written
works came under a serious outside
threat. Europeans, justifying
themselves with the Christian ethics,
tried to destroy the "pagan" and
"primitive" culture of the Africans, to
make them more pliable slaves.
 In modern African poetry, one finds
the main theme of Negritude:
 The presence of ancestral spirits;
 The beauty of African women;
 The harsh realities of white
colonization (race prejudice,
exploitation, devastation of black
civilization); and
 Conflicts brought about by change.
 Read the poem AFRICA written by
David Diop and answer the ff.
questions:
 What do they say about white
colonization?
 What does this poem say about
African culture and traditions?
 What does it say about CHANGE?
 VOCABULARY: Can you tell the meaning of
the underlined words? Match your answers.
A B
1. In ancestral savanna a. freedom
2. Under the weight of b. to degrade
humiliation c. a tropical grassland
3. Impetuous son d. immovable
4. That grows obstinately e. handle use for hitting
5. Saying yes to the whip, f. force/violent move
6. Taste of liberty
 AFRICA
(by David Diop)
Africa, my Africa
Africa of proud warriors,
In ancestral savanna,
Africa of whom my grandmother
sings,
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood
That irrigates the fields
The blood of your sweat
The work of your slavery
The slavery of your children.
Africa, tell me Africa,
Is this you, this back that is bent,
This back that breaks
Under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with the red scars
Saying yes to the whip under the
midday sun?
A grave voice answers me:
Impetuous son, this tree, young and
strong,
This tree there in splendid isolation
Amidst white and faded flowers,
That is Africa, your Africa,
That grows again, patiently, obstinately
As its fruits gradually acquire
The bitter taste of liberty.
 Group Task
1. To whom is the poem addressed?
2. Why does the speaker say “I have never
known you?”
3. What are some of the descriptive lines or
phrases that the speaker uses to refer to
Africa?
4. Explain the lines 8-12, and lines 14-18.
5. What is the answer that the speaker gets
to his question? Explain.
 Group Task

6. Does the poem end in an optimistic

or positive tone? Why or why not?
7. Explain the line, “The bitter taste of
liberty.”
8. What historical experience does the
Philippines share with Africa?